Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2021 - 17

brenda@brendarichardson.com
Individualized nutritional
care promoting adequacy
of nutrients and enhanced
quality of life must be a
priority.
Holidays are a time when
food and food events become
even more important and can
help create experiences that
promote a feeling or state of
well-being and contentment.
This is an excellent
opportunity to review
nutrition goals and approaches
supporting positive outcomes.
Nutritional care continues
with the need for identifying
malnutrition risk with prompt
referral for a comprehensive
assessment.
This article provides
suggestions for the 2021
holidays, with the goal of
promoting joy while also
supporting individualized
nutrition goals.
THE IMPORTANCE
OF FOOD AND
TRADIT IONS
Each facility has a unique
opportunity to help make
the holidays extra special
for long-term care residents.
Beyond providing nutrition,
food means many things
to different people and is
personal to each individual.
Due to self-directed living
initiatives, residents in longterm
care can exercise a great
deal of control over their
food and dining practices.
They have greater flexibility
in regards to mealtimes,
food preferences, dining
locations, and amount of food
consumed. Food is one of the
few things residents still have
control over when they live
in a long-term care facility
when so many other choices
are gone. It's crucial to actively
support personal preferences at
mealtimes.
At times, the RDN, the
CDM, CFPP, and the
foodservice team are very busy
trying to meet the changing
preferences of residents.
It's important to remember
that choices and preferences
may further increase
during the holiday season.
Honoring choices in terms
Listen
Find out what is important to
your residents. You may not
be able to recreate all their
favorite holiday traditions, but
you can listen. Simply hearing
and engaging in their story
validates whatever they may be
thinking and feeling.
Embrace Ethnic and
Cultural Traditions
The numbers and proportions
of older people of diverse
racial and ethnic origins in
the United States continue
to increase. In 1990, ethnic
minorities represented 13
percent of the population age
65 and older. That figure rose
Brenda Richardson,
MA, RDN, LD, FAND
is a lecturer, author,
and owner/president
of Brenda Richardson,
LLC. She is a longtime
RDN consultant
in long-term care,
and now serves as
an Independent
Auditor for the GlutenFree
Certification
Organization.
NOW IS AN EXCELLENT
TIME to review residents'
nutritional goals and
approaches to support
positive outcomes.
of food and meals provides
a significant opportunity to
support positive experiences
for residents, while also
promoting optimal intake.
HOW TO MAKE
THE HOL IDAYS
SPECIAL
There are many ways to make
the holidays memorable for
the individuals in your care.
Consider the following:
to 23 percent by 2020, and
it's projected to increase to 36
percent by 2050. This jump is
due to both higher birth rates
and more immigration among
racial and ethnic minority
populations.
The growth in the number
of older people of diverse
backgrounds, changes in
disability rates among the
different racial and ethnic
Continued on page 18
NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | November-December 2021 17
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2021
